Professional powerlifting bars

This term has other meanings, see Grif.

Savigny, 1809

Vultures

, or
barn owls
(lat. Gyps) is a genus of large birds of prey of the hawk family, widespread in the warm climate of the eastern hemisphere. They have an external resemblance to American vultures, but these two groups of birds are not close relatives.

Typical scavengers, they are distinguished by predominantly dark plumage, an unfeathered head (many have an unfeathered neck) and long and wide wings. Prey is found solely by sight (in contrast, American vultures have a good sense of smell). They have a powerful beak, but weak legs, unable to carry prey. A characteristic anatomical feature is a large crop and stomach for the consumption of large quantities of food.

Typically, vultures soar at high altitudes, looking for prey and keeping an eye on each other. If one of them sees food, he goes down, and the rest of the birds fly there. Fights for food often occur here, but a large group of birds can scare off some predators. Often the food they eat is completely spoiled. Pus or blood from the corpse flows along the unfeathered part of the body and flows down from the vulture’s body through a special feather “collar”. The high acidity of gastric juice kills cadaveric bacteria and promotes the dissolution of bones, and symbiotic bacteria in the intestines neutralize bacterial toxins. Periodically, vultures straighten their feathers to allow ultraviolet light to kill bacteria on their feathers.

Neck material and cut

The quality of a guitar neck depends primarily on the material (wood) from which it is made. The main body of the neck can be made of various types of wood: maple, mahogany, cherry, wenge, bubinga. Most necks are made from maple. Composite materials such as graphite or lucite can also be used to make the neck. Wooden fingerboards are usually coated with a layer of varnish on top to prevent them from warping due to possible drying.

Few people know that there are several types of cutting wood used for making fingerboards, namely: radial (quarter sawn) and tangential (flat (slab) sawn). The type of cut affects not only the appearance of the neck, but also its physical properties.

For radial cutting

the plane of the cut passes through the core of the trunk, such wood is uniform in color and texture, and the neck made of such material is very durable and resistant to external influences. Such a neck will serve you faithfully for many years, without deformation and impressing with its wear resistance. Once you have adjusted it once, you will hardly need to adjust it; the bar will hold the desired angle for a long time, withstanding greater tension. As for the acoustic properties, when cut radially, the necks sound brighter and the lows are clearer.

For tangential cutting

the plane of the cut passes at a distance from the core. A fingerboard made from such boards has a pronounced texture and a rich wave-like pattern of annual rings. Such necks are less expensive than radial ones, but they are more flexible, react to string thickness, changes in temperature and humidity, and will have to be adjusted more often.

As a compromise solution, multi-layer necks were invented, similar in sound to radial ones. When making such necks, two or three pieces of tangentially cut wood (even different species) are glued together, allowing for greater rigidity and lower cost, as well as a unique sound.

Neck MB Barbell

(approximate cost 25,000 rubles)

MB Barbell products began to be produced in the USSR; now, according to Forbes, they occupy 70% of the Russian market. Powerlifting bars can withstand loads of up to 600 kilograms, all bars undergo load testing, the date and time of which is recorded in the attached passport. Nothing is known about the certification of these bars by any federation, but these bars can undoubtedly be used at city and regional competitions.

Guitar neck shape.

The width and thickness of the neck determines how comfortable it will be for you to play various chords and perform a particular style of music. Based on their shape, there are three main types of guitar necks:

• Standard round necks

  , for example, are perfect for playing classic rock and blues, as they are easy to play with both chords and fingerpicking. But in order to develop serious game dynamics you will have to practice a lot. These necks are available on most GIBSON and FENDER models.

• Thin and wide bars

  will be most convenient for performers of fast and heavy music (for example, hard rock, hardcore, metal, grunge, alternative and others). Such necks can be found, for example, in IBANEZ RG series guitars, JACKSON SOLOIST series, YAMAHA.

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• A compromise between the two types above is variable radius bars

  : closer to the head it is more round, towards the soundboard it is flatter. Guitar necks of this type are more expensive than regular ones, so they are installed only on certain models, for example, GIBSON gave this neck the name 60'slim taper.

We talked about the main forms of guitar necks, of which there are actually many more, and each of them has its own purpose, being preferable for a particular musical genre.

Guitar workshop of Nikolai Ivanov

What to do if the neck of your favorite guitar has become screwed up? This can happen even with the most expensive guitar: changes in climate, humidity, improper care and storage, or different gauge strings with different tensions - all this can lead to the neck being twisted with a screw, the strings ringing on the frets, and this cannot be corrected by simply adjusting the anchor. This happened with my Schecter Custom 5 bass - either because of the climate change from American to Siberian, or the maple was simply too soft, which caused the neck to bend.

There are several ways to fix the screw:

1. Warm up the bar with a hair dryer and unscrew it back
2. Remove the pickguard and sand the surface of the neck, making it smooth again
3. Strengthen the neck with two anchors

Let's look at each of the methods in more detail.

1) It’s not difficult to warm up the bar with a hairdryer, but nothing guarantees that the untwisted bar won’t move back again. Moreover, it is not always possible to unwind it, because when unwinding, it may begin to lead in the opposite direction. Unreliable.

2) Removing the cover and sanding it is expensive and also unreliable, because... the neck can also lead further, and after a couple of such operations there will be nothing and nothing to grind

3) Strengthening the neck with two anchors. Some manufacturers immediately produce guitars reinforced with two truss rods, especially for 5-, 6- or more string basses with wide necks. Two anchors allow you to adjust the deflection on both sides and thus correct any screw that may appear. It's worth the investment and it's reliable.

To install 2 anchors, you need to remove the old anchor, and to do this you will have to remove the fingerboard. Using a hair dryer, heat up the glue that glues the overlay and centimeter by centimeter, carefully peel off the overlay.

Now you need to pull out the old anchor, grind a plug for it from maple, glue it in, fix it and dry it.

Unlike a conventional truss rod, the new truss rods allow you to change the deflection of the bar in both directions, which gives us almost complete control over the bar. To install new anchors, we mill grooves for them; as a rule, the thickness of the neck should be enough to machine a groove of the required depth.

After successfully installing the anchors, glue the cover back on. The chance that the frets will fit straight is very small, so you need to be prepared to change the frets after gluing the pickguard. This is exactly what happened in our case: the frets became loose during the process of peeling off the pickguard and therefore had to be removed and new ones inserted.

The result was worth all the effort! Now the deflection of the neck is very easy and precise to adjust and it is no longer afraid of any screw. We'd love to hear your questions in the comments.

Neck attachment

The sound of a guitar depends on the method of mounting the neck to the body of the guitar, but it is impossible to say for sure which method is preferable, because each of them has its own characteristics and allows you to obtain a certain nuance in the sound of the instrument.

There are four types of neck fastening: bolted (bolted), glued, through and semi-through.

• Bolt-On
  was invented back in the 1940s by Leo Fender purely for practical reasons. He believed that if the neck of an electric guitar is damaged, there should be no problem replacing it, but there is no need to completely change the guitar. Nowadays such necks are usually installed on budget guitar models. This type of mount is characterized by a powerful attack, clarity of notes, and sharp tone, but at the same time weak sustain. When purchasing a neck with this type of fastening, you should pay special attention to the tight fit of the neck to the body of the guitar; there should be no gaps or play. The tight fit is ensured by a large number of bolts. Electric guitars with this type of mounting are considered universal, but are best suited for playing hard rock.

• Glued/Set-In necks
  are widely used on electric guitars. Such a neck is installed in a special recess and securely fixed with epoxy resin. This connection method better conveys the acoustic properties of wood, giving the instrument a warm sound and good sustain, while the attack, unfortunately, suffers. Guitars with this neck are slightly more expensive, but they are an excellent choice for jazz players, providing a warm and smooth sound.

• Neck-Through
  is the most expensive method, usually found on bass guitars. The through-hole mount allows for maximum feel of the wood, providing excellent sustain and a slight reduction in low-frequency resonance. Guitars with such a neck sound very smooth, without dips. The lack of a heel on the fretboard makes it easy to play solos. The only disadvantage of this method of attaching the neck is the price, both of the instrument and of its repair, if it is possible at all.
• half-through body fastening
  in the late 80s of the last century, but this method never became widespread. With this fastening method, the neck is in closer contact with the body than with a bolted connection, and the sound of such an instrument is close to a guitar with a through-neck.

Top 3: the most interesting facts about the vulture

1. In Africa there is one ritual with the help of which sorcerers predict the future. The dried brain of the vulture is set on fire, and fortune telling occurs by reading the smoke. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, demand for this ritual grew so much that birding in South Africa almost completely disappeared.
2. The male and female take turns incubating the single egg. With each change, the egg is turned over to the other side.
3. It is extremely rare to build nests, but if they do, the result exceeds all expectations. They build a huge nest about three meters in diameter, which can support several people.

Guitar fretboard

An important role in the design of the neck is played by its fingerboard, since it is the one that first receives vibration from the strings, and only then transmits it through the neck to the body of the guitar. The fingerboard is a thin strip of wood that is glued to the face of the fingerboard. The pickguard can be with or without frets (in fretless bass guitars); most often, some frets have mortise marks that can also be applied to the end of the pickguard.

Usually the fretboards are made from hardwoods such as rosewood, maple, ebony, but you can also find carbon fiber fretboards.

The shape of the pickguard affects the timbre of the guitar and, depending on the radius, can be of four types: flat, conical, cylindrical, mixed.

The bending of the overlay is adjusted using an anchor: tensioning the anchor rod will reduce the bending, and loosening it will increase it. Due to low string tension, classical guitars do not have an anchor rod, but the pickguard should have a slight bend. Of particular note are the fretless fingerboards: they have a concave shape.

Anchor rod

An anchor rod (or simply an anchor) is an iron rod 4-6 mm thick, located inside the neck to give it rigidity, as well as to regulate the deflection of the neck; for this purpose, a bolt is located at one end of the rod. The truss rod adjustment nut can be located either at the heel of the bar or at its head.

The truss rod helps prevent the neck from bending under the influence of tightly stretched strings, which is why it is found mainly in guitars with metal strings.

There are two ways to install the anchor rod:

• On the back side of the fingerboard, which is quite labor-intensive in terms of production, and, accordingly, affects the cost. This mounting method can often be found on FENDER electric guitars.
• Under the fingerboard is the most budget-friendly method, and its main disadvantage is that over time the anchor can tear the fingerboard off the fingerboard.

Leoko vulture

(approximate cost 30,000 rubles)

The Finnish company Leoko has been producing iron since 1976. Today the company is one of the top 3 manufacturers of powerlifting equipment. The bars are certified by the IPF Powerlifting Federation and the International Weightlifting Federation - IWF.

Guitar frets

Along the entire length of the fingerboard there are metal saddles - frets, which help change the sound of the string by one semitone and hit the desired note. Also, the concept of “fret” includes the gap between two sills. As written above, there are also fretless guitars, but playing chords on them is much more difficult.

The number of frets on different types and models of guitars can vary from 19 (on a classical guitar) to 27 (on an electric guitar). Guitar frets can also be divided into different groups according to certain criteria:

• fret height

  , which significantly affects the height of the guitar strings. Low frets make it easy to press the string directly to the pickguard, but making regular bends on such a guitar is not easy. With high frets it’s the opposite: pressing the strings is more difficult, but making bends is much easier.

• fret width

  , which affects their service life: narrow frets wear out faster and, accordingly, require grinding or even replacement more often.

• materials

  The materials used to make frets are stainless steel, silver and nickel. You can only understand the advantages of this or that material from your own experience, since there are so many musicians, so many opinions. Some people believe that stainless steel strings are more durable, but they do not sound as good as silver-nickel strings.

• profile and shape of guitar frets

  affect the appearance of the instrument, the ease of clamping the string, and, of course, the sound of the instrument.

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7 facts about the vulture

• They live alone or in pairs. They gather in flocks only over large carrion, such as an elephant or a rhinoceros.
• Different species will be able to peacefully eat the same carcass. This is due to the fact that different species eat different parts of the body: offal, bones, tendons, skin.
• These birds have a very large stomach and crop. They can carry more than five kilograms of meat in them. This meat is eaten within 20 minutes.
• They often eat so much meat that they cannot fly. Then the bird will have to regurgitate part of what it has eaten.
• Rarely attacks a living animal. A cunning predator will not kill a dying animal, preferring to wait.
• These birds not only look out for prey below. They do not forget to look at their relatives who may have noticed the carcass earlier.
• In flight they very rarely flap their wings. After one flap, the bird can simply hover above the ground for more than one hour.

Headstock Angle

The headstock can be flat, that is, have no angle of inclination relative to the main plane of the neck, or have an inclination. Additional string guides are often installed on a flat head to increase the angle of the string from the nut to the headstock so that the string does not fly out of the nut groove. These necks can be found on Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars.

When the headstock is angled relative to the rest of the fingerboard, the strings sit firmly in the grooves and do not fly out, and guides are not needed.

So, we have sufficiently examined the guitar neck, its components and features of sound and operation. The choice, as always, is yours! After all, the best guitar is a guitar that sounds the way you like!

Parallel bar training

The main, most productive exercises using a frame bar include:

• squats,
• bench/seated presses,
• deadlift,
• French press.

The parallel barbell facilitates their most technical execution, without unnecessary effort, without causing pain or discomfort. Properly performed exercises that involve working the entire length of the biceps and triceps are aimed at steadily increasing mass. With a gradual increase in loads and an increase in the number of sets, a barbell with a parallel grip will help to effectively use these muscle groups in a fairly short time.

Before purchasing a parallel grip triceps bar in order to achieve visible results, you need to carefully consider your training program. Otherwise, its purchase will not be justified. A bar with a parallel grip is a special piece of equipment, so before choosing it, it is better to consult with our specialist by calling the phone number listed on the website.